The new OLED Switch may be the final revision on the console of any remarkable kind. Nintendo has revealed new details about the upcoming console revision and their future plans. The speculation of a 4K Switch Pro model has been running rampant since the console launched. Many a clickbait video has been made spreading baseless rumors about an upgraded variant.
These rumors were always pretty sketchy. Nintendo has always found some degree of success in casual and budget-oriented markets. THe mobile gaming scene has exploded over the last few years, and despite its issues, the current Switch hardware is well-poised to offer solid gaming fun. Why would the company pour tens of millions of dollars into R&D just to have slightly better competition with AAA games on other consoles? That has never been the core market for the Japanese publisher.
And it would seem that Nintendo is toeing that line hard going into 2022 and beyond. In summation, Nintendo said it has “no plans for launching any other model at this time.” So no, a true Switch Pro probably isn’t coming.
Last year, as rumors doubled down, speculation was common that Nintendo planned to release the console by the “year-end shopping season.”
Nintendo also revealed details about the development of the console and its pricing. Likely done in response to some users criticizing the price change, Ninty has revealed details about how the hardware was priced to the consumer. A recent report suggested that the company had changed the pricing for the OLED console variant to increase profit margins.
The Bloomberg report Nintendo is referring to pegs the price of the Switch OLED Model, $349.99, which is about $50 more than the current tabletop model. And it would seem that the industry agrees. Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad weighed in, saying that the new variant has a lower profit margin, not a higher one, compared to the other main console.
The new OLED Switch console won’t output to displays at 4K, and it won’t feature performance improvements in tabletop mode. It does still support all three basic setup modes. It features a wired LAN port for better multiplayer connectivity and 64 GB of internal storage. The all-white look is a nice departure from the red/blue look of the basic model. It’s also not hard to foresee a future in which the new OLED Switch simply replaces the current main model as it offers more features.
WiFi has been a particular complaint of many users of the Switch, so wired internet is a huge upside. The added cost is estimated at around $10-$20 depending on commodity prices and overall demand.
The Nintendo Switch OLED model will launch this October 8 for an MSRP of around $350 dollars.
